Mangled remains of the taxi which crashed head-on into a bus in Shanghai on Tuesday, killing five people, including four South Korean women and the taxi driver.

Five people, including four South Korean women and their taxi driver, were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in collided head-on with a bus on Tuesday.

Two Korean passengers died on the scene, while one more died in hospital on Tuesday. Another Korean woman and the taxi driver succumbed to "mutliple injuries" yesterday.

Authorities said all the four Koreans riding in the cab, which belonged to the Dazhong Taxi Co, were "middle-aged" women, whose families have businesses in Shanghai.

The women were traveling home after visiting a common friend in the city's Minhang district when the accident occurred, said a man surnamed Cui, who claimed to be a friend of the victims.

At around 2 pm on Tuesday, the taxi, going north on Xinzhen Road, collided head-on with a bus (No 173) traveling in the opposite direction in the Minhang area.

The taxi swerved to avoid hitting an Audi car, which was making a turn at the intersection on Nongnan Road, and crashed into the bus coming from the opposite direction, said the police.

The driver of the Audi has been detained for questioning, local media reported yesterday.

No one onboard the bus was injured.

Relatives of the deceased yesterday blamed the authorities for "not showing urgency" in trying to save the critically injured Koreans and the taxi driver.

"The accident occurred at 2pm, yet she (one of the Korean women) wasn't taken to the local hospital till an hour later. It was too late," said a relative who declined to be named. "I hope the government intervenes and thinks of a fair solution."

The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But Chen Qiwei, spokesman of Shanghai's municipal government, said the consulate had been "informed" of the accident.

The Dazhong Taxi Co declined to comment.

Ah Seo, a Korean woman living in Shanghai, said she was concerned about traffic safety in China after learning of the horrific crash.

"It's a real tragedy I wonder though if the taxi was over-speeding. How else could there be such an impact?" she said.

"Drivers here really need to be forced to exercise some discipline. This isn't just about the Koreans who died. This is about hundreds of lives that are lost on Chinese roads each year."

(China Daily June 4, 2009)